On this day in 2013: Real Madrid confirm world-record signing of Gareth Bale

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Real Madrid confirmed the world-record signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham on this day in 2013.

The Spanish giants ended almost two months of speculation and negotiation by securing the Wales international’s services in an £85.1million, six-year deal.

Bale thanked Tottenham for making his move to Madrid happen, and he admitted that he could not turn down the chance of playing for the nine-time European champions.

“I have had six very happy years at Tottenham, but it is the right time to say goodbye,” he told Tottenham’s official website.

“We’ve had some special times together over the years, and I have loved every minute of it.

“I am not sure there is ever a good time to leave a club where I felt settled and was playing the best football of my career to date.

“I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say this is my dream come true.”

Bale joined a long list of illustrious players to have made big-money moves to the Bernabeu.

Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo were all given the ‘Galactico’ moniker following their high-profile transfers to Real, but none of them cost as much as Bale.

Tottenham and Real clashed several times during the transfer saga, with Spurs unhappy with how several Real Madrid players spoke publicly about the possibility of Bale moving to the Bernabeu.

The Spanish club then angered Spurs chairman Daniel Levy even further by selling Bale replica shirts on their website.

Levy said: “He is a player whose career we have fostered and developed, and he was only a year into his new four-year contract.

“Such has been the attention from Real Madrid and so great is Gareth’s desire to join them, that we have taken the view that the player will not be sufficiently committed to our campaign in the current season.”

Bale spent nine years in Madrid, leaving them and joining MLS side Los Angeles FC earlier this year.